The Examination
Seventy-five scored items in three hours, delivered online with remote proctoring. Every policy that governs a sitting is below.
Format at a glance
| Scored items | 75 multiple-choice items, four options each, one correct. Form 1 contains no unscored pretest items. A future form may include up to 10 unscored pretest items; that change will be announced in the handbook before the form is used. |
| Time | 3 hours, including one unscheduled break. The clock does not stop for the break. |
| Delivery | Online, with live remote proctoring, during the published testing windows. |
| Language | English. |
| Content | Content outline v1.0. No CPT, ICD-10-CM or HCPCS code-selection items. |
| Reference material | None permitted. The examination tests what a practitioner must know without looking it up. |
| Pass mark | 60 of 75 scored items correct (80%). |
| Results | Pass or fail on screen at completion; official results and the domain-level score report within 5 business days. |
Scheduling
On approval of the application, CIFPO issues an authorization-to-test valid for 90 days and dated so that it spans at least one full testing window. The candidate schedules a date and start time inside a window through the scheduling link in the authorization. One reschedule inside the same authorization is free if made at least 48 hours before the appointment; a later change or a no-show forfeits the sitting, and the candidate may apply again at the re-examination fee.
Identification
Before the examination begins the candidate shows a current government-issued photo identification whose name matches the application. Acceptable forms: driver's license, passport, state identification card, military identification. A candidate whose name has changed since the application must tell CIFPO before the appointment.
Examination-day rules
- A private, quiet room; a desk cleared of everything but the computer; a working webcam and microphone; a room scan at the start.
- No second monitor, no phone, no notes, no printed or electronic reference material, no headphones.
- No other person in the room. Speaking aloud, leaving the camera frame except during the permitted break, or looking repeatedly off-screen ends the sitting.
- Items may not be copied, photographed, recorded, or reconstructed from memory and shared. The candidate agreement, accepted at scheduling, makes item disclosure a breach that invalidates results and bars the candidate from re-applying for two years.
Scoring and the passing standard
The pass mark for content outline v1.0 is 60 correct answers out of 75 — a criterion-referenced standard set by the CIFPO standards panel at the time of publication. Scores on this form are reported as raw counts; no scaled score is used, and a candidate should read "80%" as 60 of 75, not as a percentile.
After the first 100 administrations CIFPO will conduct a modified-Angoff standard-setting study with a panel of practicing subject-matter experts and, if the study supports it, re-set the pass mark. Any change is announced at least 60 days before it takes effect and never applies to a candidate retroactively.
The score report
Every candidate, passing or not, receives a domain-level score report: the number of items answered correctly in each of the six domains against the number scored. A candidate who does not pass knows exactly where to work. The report is not entered in the registry and is released to no one but the candidate.
Retakes
A candidate who does not pass may sit again after 30 days, up to 2 retakes in any twelve-month period, at the re-examination fee. There is no limit on total attempts across years. A retake uses a different form when one is available.
Accommodations
CIFPO provides reasonable accommodations, at no cost, to candidates with a documented disability or a qualifying medical condition, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Typical accommodations include extended time (1.5× or 2×), additional scheduled breaks, a screen reader or magnification, and permission for a medical device in the testing room.
- Request the accommodation on the application, or by email to board@cifpo.org before the authorization-to-test is issued.
- Attach documentation from a qualified professional describing the condition and the accommodation recommended. Documentation is kept confidential, is used only to decide the request, and is destroyed 12 months after the last examination it supported.
- CIFPO decides within 10 business days and states the accommodation approved. A candidate may appeal a decision within 30 days.
Technical problems
If the proctoring platform fails during a sitting for reasons outside the candidate's control, the sitting is voided and rescheduled inside the same authorization at no charge. If the candidate's own connection or equipment fails, the proctor's record decides whether the sitting can be resumed; if it cannot, one free reschedule is offered.
Appeals of examination decisions
A candidate may appeal an eligibility denial, an accommodation decision, an invalidated sitting or a scoring dispute by writing to board@cifpo.org within 30 days of the decision, stating the grounds. The appeal is reviewed by a member of the standards panel who was not involved in the original decision, and answered in writing within 30 days. Item content is not released in an appeal.
After a pass
A successful candidate receives a digital certificate and a unique credential identifier, and is entered in the public registry the same day official results issue. Certification runs 2 years from the date of issue.
Ready to be measured against the standard?
Confirm your pathway, submit the application, and sit the examination in the next window.